Libertarian Party (United States)
Name "Libertarianism", like "Liberal" (Latin: liber, "free") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as its principal objective. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and freedom of choice, emphasizing political freedom, voluntary association, and the primacy of individuals' judgment. The Libertarian Party is a libertarian political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, free markets, non-interventionism, and laissez-faire ecanomics. The LP was conceived at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado during 1971 and was officially formed on December 11, 1971 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Vietnam War, conscription, and the end of the gold standard. Party dData Overview The Libertarian Party (LP) is a libertarian political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism and the abolition of the welfare state. The LP was conceived at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado during 1971 and was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the end of the gold standard. The party generally promotes a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the Democrats' modern liberalism and progressivism and the Republicans' conservatism. Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016, states that the LP is more culturally liberal than Democrats, but more fiscally conservative than Republicans. Current fiscal policy positions include lowering taxes, abolishing the IRS, decreasing the national debt, allowing people to opt out of Social Security, and eliminating the welfare state, in part by utilizing private charities; current cultural policy positions include ending the prohibition of illegal drugs, supporting same-sex marriage, ending capital punishment, and supporting gun ownership rights. Many libertarians believe in lowering the drinking age to 18. There are 411,250 voters registered as Libertarian in the 27 states that report Libertarian registration statistics and Washington, D.C. By that count, as well as popular vote in elections and number of candidates run per election, the LP is the country's third largest nationally organized party. The LP was the party under which the first electoral vote was cast for a woman, Tonie Nathan, for Vice President in a United States presidential election, due to a faithless elector. Though the party has never won a seat in the United States Congress, it has seen electoral success in the context of state legislatures and other local offices. Three Libertarians were elected to the Alaska House of Representatives between 1978 and 1984 and another four to the New Hampshire General Court in 1992. Neil Randall won election to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1998, which marked the last time to date a Libertarian was elected to a state legislature. Rhode Island State Representative Daniel P. Gordon was expelled from the Republicans and joined the Libertarian Party in 2011. In 2016, the Libertarians tied their 1992 peak of four legislators when four state legislators from four different states left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party: Nevada Assemblyman John Moore in January, Nebraska Senator Laura Ebke and New Hampshire Representative Max Abramson in May, and Utah Senator Mark B. Madsen in July. History The party forms The first Libertarian National Convention was held in June 1972. In 1978, Dick Randolph of Alaska became the first elected Libertarian state legislator. Following the 1980 federal elections, the Libertarian Party assumed the title of being the third-largest party for the first time after the American Independent Party and the Conservative Party of New York, which were the other largest minor parties at the time, continued to decline. In 1994, over 40 Libertarians were elected or appointed which was a record for the party at that time. 1995 saw a soaring membership and voter registration for the party. In 1996, the Libertarian Party became the first third party to earn ballot status in all 50 states two presidential elections in a row. By the end of 2009, 146 Libertarians were holding elected offices.needed Tonie Nathan, running as the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential candidate in the 1972 presidential election with John Hospers as the presidential candidate, was the first female candidate in the United States to receive an electoral vote. 2012 onwards The 2012 election Libertarian Party presidential candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, received the highest number of votes—more than 1.2 million—of any Libertarian presidential candidate. He was renominated for president in 2016, this time choosing former Massachusetts Governor William Weld as his running mate. Both Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein received significantly more news coverage in 2016 than third-party candidates usually get, with polls showing both candidates potentially increasing their support over the last election, especially among younger voters. Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012, states that the party is more culturally liberal than the Democrats, but more fiscally conservative than the Republicans. The party has generally promoted a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the modern liberal and progressive platform of the Democrats and the more conservative platform of the Republicans. Current policy positions include lowering taxes, allowing people to opt out of Social Security, ending welfare, ending the prohibition of illegal drugs, supporting same-sex marriage rights, and supporting gun ownership rights. There are 411,250 voters registered as Libertarian in the 27 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that report Libertarian registration statistics. By that count, it is the fifth largest party in the country. By other measures, such as popular vote in elections and number of candidates run per election, the LP is the country's third largest party. It has also many firsts to its credit, such as being the party under which the first electoral vote was cast for a woman for Vice President in a United States presidential election, due to a faithless elector. Though the party has never won a seat in the United States Congress, it has seen electoral success in the context of state legislatures. Three Libertarians were elected to the Alaska House of Representatives between 1978 and 1984 and another four to the New Hampshire General Court in 1992. Neil Randall won election to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1998, which marked the last time to date a Libertarian was elected to a state house. Rhode Island State Representative Daniel P. Gordon was expelled from the Republicans and joined the Libertarian Party in 2011. John Moore, a Nevada State Assemblyman, switched from the Republicans to the Libertarians in 2016. Platform The preamble outlines the party's goals: "As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others" and "Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands." Its Statement of Principles begins: "We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual." The Statement of Principles is foundational to the ideology of the party and was created specifically to bind the party to certain core principles with a high parliamentary burden for any amendment. The platform emphasizes individual liberty in personal and economic affairs, avoidance of "foreign entanglements" and military and economic intervention in other nations' affairs, and free trade and migration. It calls for Constitutional limitations on government as well as the elimination of most state functions. It includes a "Self-determination" section which quotes from the Declaration of Independence and reads: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty." It also includes an "Omissions" section which reads: "Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval." This includes favoring minimally regulated markets, a less powerful federal government, strong civil liberties (including LGBT rights), (the party supports same-sex marriage), the liberalization of drug laws, separation of church and state, open immigration, non-interventionism and neutrality in diplomatic relations, free trade and free movement to all foreign countries, and a more representative republic.The party's position on abortion is that government should stay out of the matter and leave it to the individual, but recognizes that some libertarians' opinions on this issue are different. Ron Paul, one of the former leaders of the Libertarian Party, is strictly pro-life, but believes that that is an issue that should be left to the states and not enforced federally. Meanwhile, Gary Johnson, the party's 2012 and 2016 presidential candidate, is pro-choice. The Libertarian Party has also supported the repeal of NAFTA, CAFTA, and similar trade agreements, as well as the United States' exit from the World Trade Organization and NATO. The Libertarian Party supports laissez-faire capitalism and the abolition of the modern welfare state. It adopts pro-civil liberties and pro-cultural liberal approaches to cultural and social issues. Paul H. Rubin, professor of law and economics at Emory University, believes that while liberal Democrats generally seek to control economic activities and conservative Republicans generally seek to control consumption activities such as sexual behavior, abortion etc., the Libertarian Party is the largest political party in the United States that advocates few or no regulations in what he deems "social" and "economic" issues. The preamble outlines the party's goals: "As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others" and "Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands." Its Statement of Principles begins: "We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual." The Statement of Principles is foundational to the ideology of the party and was created specifically to bind the party to certain core principles with a high parliamentary burden for any amendment. The platform emphasizes individual liberty in personal and economic affairs, avoidance of "foreign entanglements" and military and economic intervention in other nations' affairs, and free trade and migration. It calls for Constitutional limitations on government as well as the elimination of most state functions. It includes a "Self-determination" section which quotes from the Declaration of Independence and reads: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty." It also includes an "Omissions" section which reads: "Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval." This includes favoring minimally regulated markets, a less powerful federal government, strong civil liberties (including LGBT rights), the legal abolition of marriage (but, should it not be abolished, the party supports same-sex marriage), the liberalization of drug laws, separation of church and state, open immigration, non-interventionism and neutrality in diplomatic relations, free trade and free movement to all foreign countries, and a more representative republic. The party's position on abortion is that government should stay out of the matter and leave it to the individual, but recognizes that some libertarians' opinions on this issue are different. Ron Paul, one of the former leaders of the Libertarian Party, is strictly pro-life, but believes that that is an issue that should be left to the states and not enforced federally. Meanwhile, Gary Johnson, the party's 2012 presidential candidate, is pro-choice. The Libertarian Party has also supported the repeal of NAFTA, CAFTA, and similar trade agreements, as well as the United States' exit from the World Trade Organization and NATO. #Libertarianism #Non-interventionism #Fiscal conservatism #Laissez-faire economics #Lowering taxes #Allowing people to opt out of Social Security (United States). #Ending welfare and thus poverty #Ending the prohibition of illegal drugs #Supporting same-sex marriage rights #Supporting Right to keep and bear arms in the United States. #Respect for human rights. Size and influence The first Libertarian Presidential candidate, John Hospers, received one electoral vote in 1972 when Roger MacBride, a Republican faithless elector pledged to Nixon, cast his ballot for the Libertarian ticket. His vote for Theodora ("Tonie") Nathan as Vice President was the first electoral college vote ever to be cast for a woman in a U.S. Presidential election. MacBride became the Libertarian nominee himself in 1976. During the 1980 presidential election, Ed Clark and David Koch received a record percentage of 921,128 votes (1%), getting as much as 12% in Alaska. In the 2012 presidential election, Gary Johnson and running mate Jim Gray received 1,275,821 votes (1%), the most cast for a Libertarian ticket since the 1980 Presidential election. In the 2012 Presidential election, the Libertarian Party gained ballot access in 48 states plus the District of Columbia, missing only Michigan (write-in only) and Oklahoma. During the 2008 United States Presidential election, the Libertarian Party gained ballot access in 45 states; missing Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Maine (write-in only), Oklahoma, and West Virginia. The following is a table comparison of ballot status for the Libertarian Party presidential nominee from 1972 to 2016 (signatures needed). At the 2014 Mid-Term election, the Party had ballot access in 35 states and DC. Criticism Criticism of libertarianism includes ethical, economic, environmental, and pragmatic concerns. It has also been argued that laissez-faire capitalism does not necessarily produce the best or most efficient outcome, nor does its policy of deregulation prevent the abuse of natural resources. Furthermore, libertarianism has been criticized due to the lack of any actual such societies today. Libertarianism, particularly the right wing and free market variant of the ideology, has also been criticized by author Michael Lind as being incompatible with democracy and apologetic towards autocracy. A 2011 study showed that libertarians experience morality differently than other people. While narrowly valuing individual liberty above all other types of morals, libertarians often identify as rational and unemotional and react to certain issues with less moral concern. A 2012 study of libertarian morality found that they were less empathic than both liberals and conservatives. For example, violence and suffering concerns liberals and conservatives more than it does libertarians. Libertarians also report less of a moral identification with their communities than other members. Also see #David Cameron's "Big Society" #American Presidents since 1913 #Conservative Party of New York #Assassination of Donald J. Trump (TL) #Constitutionalist Party (United States) #Donald J. Trump's victory (Trump '06 TL) Category:Libertarians Category:United States of America Category:United States Category:USA Category:America Category:Politics Category:Parties